I chose to go to the Poplars on an emergency placement. I enjoyed my stay so much that I decided to go to Poplars from then on. And I have been coming for over seven years and I always have the most amazing time. My mum loves it too, as she knows I am having a great time and so can relax while I am here. I used to message her a lot, when I was away, but I am too busy when I am here.
I stay throughout the year and always during New Year – and this year we had sparklers, mulled wine, and lots of other fun things to see in 2024.
The staff are good at making sure Poplars is welcoming and full of the right things for me. I like to go out to town, out for lunch, have my nails done and go to the cinema.
We just got a new bath which has all sorts of jets and coloured lights – and a stereo in it as well! I love having a soak in it and a head massage – and have recently redecorated all the bedrooms.
The only things I would like is a bus so we could all go to Blackpool Zoo – the chimpanzees and lions are my favourites – and a change to the rules that mean I can’t work here and still be a guest. I would love to work here with the team, in the office. But I do my best to help, making brews for staff.
The phrase ‘break a leg’ certainly turned out lucky for me!
Our service increases the length of time someone is able to remain in their own home rather than move to residential care. The respite offered to family allows them a better balance with more rest and freedom to pursue own interests . Many service users were on the brink of moving into residential care when joining us; this has been significantly delayed, or they still remain with family
Our supported people develop independence; one learnt how to eat independently again with the use of adapted equipment.
We support rehabilitation and work with other professionals to offer a multi disciplinary approach, promoting good physical and mental wellbeing.
The knowledge of staff and connections to other professionals provide holistic approaches, for example accessing equipment at home to maintain independent living, for example, referrals to Occupational Therapist.
Waterloo Park gives both the people we support and their carers peace of mind as they trust and feel safe within the service, and can continue to work or provide childcare to enable their children to work, whilst their relatives are at the Centre.
Our Service is utilised as respite for carers and family members and also reduces the need for multiple care visits throughout the day.
Intergenerational projects have allowed younger and older people the chance to socialise, this has been very beneficial for those with dementia as they recall past relationships and roles, often caring for younger people as if they are their own child. We have a close relationship with a local primary school and those funded by Sport England and the National Lottery
We regularly receive calls from relatives in despair unsure how to access services, we are happy to support these and signpost them into the right direction. , offering advice on how to make Adult Social Care Referrals. We often receive calls a few weeks later thanking us for our guidance and positive stories on the support the family now receives.
The criteria to attend Waterloo Park has changed to meet the needs of the local community. Referrals from ASC have included anyone over the age of 60 who have additional support needs including learning , physical disability, early stage dementia, social isolation , acquired brain injury and autism.
To adapt and meet changing needs we have refurbished the building, adding a large accessible bathroom with closomat toilet,shower, changing plinth and overhead tracking. A fully accessible garden with shelter, updated security to ensure outdoor spaces are safe for all to use
We have purchased extensive equipment, mobility aids and adapted furniture to promote independence, comfort and safer handling procedures.
With our person centred approach, we have sought advice and purchased items for individuals to improve their physical , mental well being and communication
In addition, our staff undertake a wide range of training to ensure we offer a safe environment with competent staffing, they undertake mandatory training and have opportunities to access more specialist courses covering specific disabilities or health conditions
The Service provides a person centred assessment and care planning process with emphasis on goals and outcomes for our users.
Over the past few years, we have networked with many other organisations and our centre is often accessed by other agencies. Sefton Memory Clinic may book rooms to meet or care agencies have used our shower room if no equipment is available in-service users’ homes.
We now use a wide range of technology including apps , social media platforms and assisted technology to enhance users experiences
During Covid Brookdale operated with a new focus on fewer people supported but with more severe or advanced dementia and more complex needs. Brookdale has since risen back to a much higher number in attendance of twenty-two places per day and is looking to increase those numbers further.
Staffing levels did not go down with the reduced case load; the more complex needs of the people supported are now provided by 1-1 and 2-1 care.
This is supported by enhanced person-centred care planning and continual individual assessment of needs.
As the complexity level increased, Brookdale recognised the need for additional support for carers, friends and families and introduced carer involvement programmes as well as a carer support group – the latter includes a dedicated carer support hotline which carers can receive advice, help and assistance on days the person supported is not visiting Brookdale.
A renewed emphasis on partnership working with MerseyCare and SMBC social care teams has allowed a stronger integration between health and social care providers, the person supported and their carers, friends and family.
A clearer focus on outcomes has been introduced, with measurable outcomes tracked and assessed with care plan changes made as appropriate.
Carers’ satisfaction and quality audit questionnaires have also been introduced to measure progress and satisfaction with care as judged by carers, friends, and family. Feedback is integrated into new service provisions.
This follows the needs of Sefton Council, and the services offered are usually co-produced to provide value-for-money services for complex needs.
The co-production ethos has also been introduced to all stakeholders, including carers, friends and family and other agencies we work with. We also signpost families needing additional support to external agencies.
We are placing an increased emphasis on prevention and intervention, maintaining mobility and independence, and thus reducing care packages and costs to Sefton Council.
People supported at North Hub are presenting with more complex needs and care packages have transitioned to mostly one to one and one to two supported person/carer relationships.
This follows the needs of Sefton Council, and the services offered are usually co-produced to provide value for money services for complex needs.
The co-production ethos has also been introduced to all stakeholders, including carers, friends and family and other agencies with whom we work. We also signpost families needing additional support to external agencies.
We are providing a increased emphasis on prevention and intervention, maintaining mobility and independence and thus reducing care packages and cost to Sefton Council.
New activities added over the last few years include rebound therapies, independent living skills, sensory therapies and hand’s on sessions (touching fabric swatches and various objects).
Additional emphasis is being placed on outdoor activities, both at the extensive garden area at North Hub as well as the New Leaf facilities in Southport.
If you have a passion for people and want to make a positive impact on people’s lives, we would love to hear from you.
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My story is familiar – mental health issues (‘catastrophic depression’ a health care professional said once) combined with alcohol dependency. However, unlike too many people in similar circumstances to mine, my story is still being written with the help of the team at Woodlands in Bootle. And I can’t wait to see how the story turns out!
In terms of time, my journey to Woodlands was relatively short but I seemed to have packed a lot of heartache, misery, loss and destruction into it.
In 2017 I had a great job, was on good money and living with my partner and our two young children, a boy and girl, in a three-bed house in Southport.
Then in a couple of months, I lost it all; I had to move out from my family, I lost my job and was living in limbo. This lasted until 2018 when my partner made the split very final, including no access to the kids.
I don’t know if I had issues with my mental health before then, or if my good life was masking symptoms, but depression came on with a vengeance.
So much so I was admitted to the Hesketh Centre mental health service five times – including once for more than year locked up in that place.
During all this, my mum died and I somehow got – and kept – a flat in Southport. It was outside this flat that my journey to Woodlands began.
Not sure what actually happened, but I guess I was beaten up outside the flat; I woke up in the emergency department.
It was while I was in A&E that my social worker rang Woodlands and basically said you either take him in an emergency respite order or he’ll be dead before Christmas.
And it really was just before Christmas when places should be winding down, but the Woodlands team immediately agreed to welcome me – black eyes, broken ribs, bruising and all.
Emergency respite turned into normal respite and then after about a month I became a tenant at Woodlands. And I have never looked back!
It’s coming up to Christmas again now, and I can look back on what Woodlands has done for me and what the team means to me.
From the most basic of things when I arrived, they helped me find clothes – not easy when my favourite colour is orange! – food and personal items; then they worked out what medications I was on and really (really) encouraged me to take them as I should.
They then helped me with my benefits, got me to work out – and pay – my debts and showed me how to manage my money going forward.
The team do regular reviews which give me a great insight into how I am doing and what I can improve – one of things we agreed that needed improving was my impulsiveness (buying those orange clothes…).
The team also encourages a real sense of community at Woodlands, and I have met so many friends as well as my future wife Maria, who is also here at Woodlands.
With their help, I have tried to make the community even better.
The team allows me to organise day trips for my friends and tenants of Woodlands, and we have been to Chester, Blackpool lots of times, New Brighton and Wales.
The other tenants wouldn’t be able to do these trips without me. I have become a mentor to the other tenants.
Which brings me to this Christmas, when I leave in the New Year I am still going to be a mentor at Woodlands because it means so much to me and I want others to have the same life-saving experience I had at Woodlands.
There are some rocks in the garden that need painting in the summer, and I will come back to do that. I will always come back to Woodlands.
Painting a few rocks is nothing compared to the amazing new chapters of my story that Woodlands gave me.
I haven’t had a drink in a year, my progress is so good that my ex-partner has allowed me to text and talk to my kids, and I am going to get married (not until August 2025, Maria wants a long engagement – but that is a story for another time).
So about me. I have been living in Shared Lives with my carer Joe for eight years now. I used to live with my dad and brothers in the family home before, but there was lots of disagreements that could get out of hand. I am a very happy, sociable person who loves to have a laugh and a joke and loves bantering with people, I never get angry and when others do it makes me very sad and unhappy – I don’t like to be sad and unhappy!
I have trouble seeing and hearing, and have a condition called Bardet-Biedl syndrome which means I have a lot of health issues I need to deal with and I really need to work hard to stay healthy and fit.
When I do go out, I have a white stick to help me get around. This was something else Shared Lives helped me with. Joe, my carer doesn’t have to hold on to me and guide me around outside anymore and in my house I can find my way round.
I love my house and my carer Joe, he is always there for me and I love to have our little chats about different things, and especially love how we can have a laugh together we spend a lot of time laughing and joking around – I told you I do love to have a laugh and joke.
Shared Lives really helps me with this. My Shared Lives carer Joe supports me to all my medical appointments and encourages me to speak up for myself and helps me understand what is being said by the doctors. Joe has really helped me understand my condition and what I need to do to stay healthy and safe.
These things have changed my life and I am much more independent and am happy to go places and do things I don’t think I ever would have done before like swimming and going the gym, which I love. I go two times a week and have made so many friends we have a laugh and a joke when we are chilling in the sauna.
As I said, I have to work really hard to stay healthy and fit, I am a big guy but I used to be bigger.
I never really understood what healthy eating was. Joe got to know what I liked and what was good for me and since living in Shared Lives I have lost over 4 stones, my clothes fit better I have actually dropped several sizes.
I really enjoyed picking my new clothes in smaller sizes this was a great achievement for me. I loved buying my LFC tops I am a huge Liverpool football club supporter! I think without this help my health problems could have been a lot worse.
The technology Shared Lives has given me has also helped me to keep in touch with my family and friends. I love to talk to people on my mobile phone or FaceTime on my iPad.
I can do this by myself I just need a little help from Joe’s daughter Sophie to set up my assisted technology and then I’m off phoning people all by myself!
I have an Echo that I talk to and ask to put on songs I like to sing to, I love singing at the top of my voice, letting all the neighbours hear my lovely singing voice – me and the neighbours have a good laugh about my singing.
If there was one thing that showed how independent I am now it would be the NCF (National Care Forum) conference this year.
With my friends James and Glenn we created a presentation for the conference all about our experience in Shared Lives, what it means for us and what it has done for us.
Without the confidence and independence I now have, together with the technology I now use, I don’t think I ever would have been able to work with my friends to create a presentation that made such an impression.
One last thing I want to tell you is I am the happiest I have ever been and me and Joe are the A Team!
It has not always been like this, not close. I came to Poulsom Drive (one of Supported Living’s tenanted homes) five years ago from my family’s home. I wanted to be more independent from my family and live in my own home.
I can get upset and angry at times but I didn’t know that it could make it so hard to make friends. Since living at Poulsom Drive they have helped me work out ways to cope with anger and bad feelings which usually make me shout and swear.
I didn’t like feeling angry, the only way I can describe how it made me feel is by telling you my mind feels crumbly and I struggle with how to handle the rest of my day.
My emotional wellbeing has really improved and I know how to stop things getting out of hand. When it does feel like it might, I now go for a walk around the block by my house or listen to relaxing music.
One of the best things that living in Poulsom Drive has given me is the ability to know what others may be thinking or feeling. And I know that no one really likes it when my passionate nature (their words!) comes out so my relationships with the other tenants in Poulsom has really improved.
Understanding what other people think and feel, and what I need to give and to take to make a relationship work, is probably my biggest achievement at Poulsom. I now have a wide circle of friends, and a boyfriend, and I have a community in which I play a big part.
These friends were the ones I invited to my very first Halloween party this year, and we had a blast!
Poulsom has also helped me discover lots of other things about myself and things I like to do. I have my own part of the garden, which I look after throughout the year.
In summer, there is nothing I like better than sitting in my egg chair in my garden, chatting to the neighbours.
And I bought that egg chair – a great thing about Poulsom and New Directions is the support they have given me to be independent, especially with my money.
I now understand my benefits and how to manage my money in my bank account, and how much money I have got and what I can afford to buy. But I have also learned more about what bills I must pay and how to pay them using my account.
As I said, I could get very upset and angry but in truth, I was sometimes reacting to how other people saw me – and talked about me. My support staff encouraged me to get involved with MENCAP, this is where I met my boyfriend and lots of new friends.
I enjoy going to MENCAP, and with them I have been involved in a HATE CRIME awareness session for school children, to help them understand how words can be hurtful to people with learning disabilities like me.
I can now express myself to these young people, I can now make friends and have a boyfriend, I now have choices and make my own decisions.
I can now take part in my community and when I do get upset I can now go for a walk or sit in my chair in the garden until the upset goes.
I know that if I am not happy with something, I can tell the managers and they help me get it sorted – I feel I am listened to and that’s so important to me.
No tricks at Poulsom, just treats for me now. Thanks to everyone.
